St. Peter's History

St. Peter’s Church is a community of faith within the Episcopal and Anglican tradition. We are committed to growing in the grace and understanding of our Christian faith and in following the example of Jesus in loving and caring for one another and the people of Honolulu and throughout the world. The founding families of St. Peter’s arrived on Oahu by way of Kohala on the Big Island as Christian families from China. The congregation, founded in 1887 as the first Chinese church in the Anglican communion of Honolulu, met at a store and at the Pro-Cathedral on the Cathedral grounds until its size demanded a building of its own. In 1914, the current church building was completed. Later, families in the church worked with artists to design and contribute the brilliant cut stained glass windows and the koa wood pews and reredos. St. Peter’s is one of the oldest historically Chinese congregations among Asian American Episcopal churches. History and demographics have transformed St. Peter’s along with the rest of Hawai`i. While remembering and honoring our Chinese heritage and founders, the community represents the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan dynamics of Honolulu and Hawai`i. We hope you find the beauty of this space to be an aid to your worship of God and the contemplation of your faith and this community to be a source of fellowship, support, and care as we live out our faith as disciples of Jesus Christ in this world.